It depends on what sits under the wrapper. An IRA custodian must hold the asset, so a wallet you control alone is out by law; the choices are an ETF inside an ordinary brokerage IRA, a custodial bitcoin IRA at a single custodian, or an IRA built on multi-institution or collaborative custody. The columns to read are who holds the keys beneath the IRA, the custodian's fees against the balance, and whether the provider's inheritance process works for a beneficiary. Fees quoted as a percentage of assets compound with price; flat fees do not.
Fit engine rules 0.1 (1 Nov 2026), with this situation's inputs preset. Adjust the inputs to your own case.
Recovery: The brokerage's beneficiary or estate process; no keys involved.
Recovery: Identity and authority documents to the institutions; no device, seed or ceremony on the heir's side.
Recovery: Prove identity and, for an estate, present letters of administration to the company's support desk.
Recovery: Identity and authority documents to the custodian; the custodian's own succession procedure.
Fits only where the provider documents an assisted inheritance path the recoverer can follow with support; otherwise the arrangement becomes a puzzle box the day you are gone.
Recovery: Locate the devices and seed backups, run a signing ceremony with the provider's key; or, where the provider documents an assisted inheritance path, follow that path with the provider.
Excluded by the rules: Self-managed multi-vendor multisig (Recovery floor: this model requires the recoverer to run a hardware wallet and handle a seed phrase, and the person you named cannot be expected to.); Single-signature hardware wallet (Recovery floor: this model requires the recoverer to run a hardware wallet and handle a seed phrase, and the person you named cannot be expected to.)
These are custody models that fit the situation described, by Proof of Custody's published rules, version 0.1 (1 Nov 2026). They are not a recommendation to buy, sell, move or hold anything, and not legal, tax or estate advice.
Bitcoin belongs to a trust, LLC or corporation, and the arrangement has to recognise the entity rather than an individual.
Agent tool: fit_custody_setup. Primary sources: poc-scores. Refresh: scores monthly. All routes.
Free, read-only, no key. Every answer carries its source URL, as-of date and the publisher disclosure.